Nice Guys Finish Last...

posted on :

Monday, Feb 25, 2013 04:14pm EST

by :

Kevin Kelly

Nice Guys Finish Last

Thoughts on Matt Taven and the H.O.T.

By Kevin Kelly

If you saw Ring of Honor Wrestling this weekend, you saw Matt Taven win the Top Prospect Tournament, accepting the help of Truth Martini and the question is “why?” Why did Taven take the opportunity given him with Martini’s involvement when Tadarius Thomas denied it?

When one door closes, another door opens…

Matt Taven has been a blue-chip prospect for several years, coming from the New England area. A trainee of Spike Dudley, Taven opened eyes at a ROH Tryout Camp in 2011 and waited for his opportunity. Opportunity would come with a quiet rivalry against Mike Mondo in 2012. Quiet only because it was never heavily promoted, as the match they had on TV was outstanding… one of the top TV matches of the year for 2012, in my opinion.

But after that, Taven’s opportunities cooled a bit while Mondo’s stock soared. Matt’s always been known as kind of a soft-spoken guy so did that affect his ability to get more matches in the latter half of 2012 in ROH? What was holding Taven back?

To be honest, I didn’t expect Taven to win the Top Prospect tournament because competitors like Silas Young and ACH commanded so much of the press leading up to the tournament. But I was wrong. When Taven dusted TD with the “Book of Truth” and picked up the Top Prospect tournament win, I think we may have finally found Matt Taven’s voice in the form of Truth Martini.

It seemed that Truth Martini was offering his help to Tadarius Thomas, wasn’t he? TD didn’t seem he was interested in Truth’s help but Taven was interested. Did Truth have a change of heart as well? Since that match, Truth Martini has been very excited about Matt Taven and the H.O.T, while Taven has been… quiet.

But the first test for the Top Prospect is a TV Title match against Adam Cole this Saturday at the 11th Anniversary event. Go to http://www.rohwrestling.com/ippv to find out what Matt Taven and Truth Martini have in store for Chicago Ridge. Will the Hoopla overshadow the talent or will Truth Martini take Taven to the next level?